My sister, Caryn, is a missionary in Papua New Guinea. This is what she calls, “My Wicked Cool Prescription Refill Story.”

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As you know, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis about five years ago. When I came to PNG, I brought a one-year supply of my medication with me, intending to bring another year’s worth when I came back to the US this summer for a short visit. After I realized that I wouldn’t have the money for a trip home, I knew that I would have to find another way to get the meds. So, for the past three months, I’ve been attempting to find a way to get a one-year supply of my MS meds into Papua New Guinea. What a nightmare!!! Since the medication comes in pre-filled syringes that have to be refrigerated, I knew it would be complicated, but I had NO IDEA of the various details involved with transporting this much medication internationally.

First, I tried contacting my insurance company to find out about shipping directly to Ukarumpa, the missionary community where I live. No one there seemed to understand the special circumstances. You can’t just FedEx a box to the jungle and expect it to arrive in two days! Ukarumpa is REMOTE. There is ONE (count it, ONE) unpaved road about 12 meters at its widest point that connects Ukarumpa to a town of any substantial size. In some areas that road is completely washed out by the rain (as in the pavement is just GONE). Sometimes that road is blocked by armed men (with bows and arrows) who won’t let any vehicles pass. Sometimes a tractor trailer jack-knifes on the road, and it’s closed for two or three days while the truck is pulled out. Just forget about the box arriving by ground transportation. And, in any case, boxes shipped to Ukarumpa via FedEx or DHL or UPS would have to go through customs in the capital, Port Moresby, which is NOT connected to Ukarumpa by any roads at all. That means that our aviation department would have to find the package in Port Moresby (imagine a scavenger hunt in which half of the items do not actually exist) and fly the box up to me in Ukarumpa.

So, I asked the aviation department if they could handle this “scavenger hunt” and if they would be able to bring the box of meds to me in Ukarumpa should they be able to actually locate the box at all. They asked what material would be used to keep the box cold in case it was made from hazardous materials. My thought was, “They’re regular ice packs. . . that keep stuff cold. . . for a long time. . . ” But, I emailed the specialty pharmacy that would be filling the prescription to ask about any hazardous materials inside the cold packs. Their reply was something like, “Yes, ma’am, we just use regular ice packs made out of gel.” Apparently, they didn’t have any idea what chemicals were used inside their cold packs either. Without a firm answer, I was forced to put this option on hold.

For a few weeks, I completely gave up the idea of shipping the medication to PNG, let alone Ukarumpa. I didn’t have the money to go back to the US, but I looked for a cheap flight home anyway. I figured that I could just bring the medication back with me the same way that I had carried the medication to PNG last August. But, the cheapest flight I could find would total somewhere around $3000 round trip. After a few weeks of internal struggle, I decided there were better ways to spend my money. (ie. the money people had given in support of my missions work in PNG.)

Then I thought about having the medication shipped to a Wycliffe contact in Australia. I couldn’t afford a flight back to the US, but maybe I could swing a flight down to Australia to pick up the medication. I started looking at flights again, and I emailed some Wycliffe contacts to gather more information. . . until someone mentioned the import tax on that volume of medication into Australia. After a little research, I found out that the import tax would be approximately 10%, or $2000 to $2500 dollars. Plus my co-pay, plus my flight to get to Australia, etc. And so, yet another one of my bright ideas fizzled into nothingness.

While I was pursuing all of these other options, I decided to ask the clinic here in Ukarumpa about getting the medication through an Australian pharmacy. I imagined that they could just bring my prescription up to Ukarumpa with vaccines and medication for other patients. I found out that the clinic staff regularly orders specialty medication through Cairns, Australia, and they could practically guarantee the “cold chain” of my medication. I was thrilled and figured this route would be the easiest until I researched the financial side of things. Just on a whim, I asked my US insurance company about co-pays if I filled the prescription in Australia. I found out that it would be about a $2000 co-pay for a one-year supply. In the world of missionary-frugality (I live on less than $900 a month), that is ASTRONOMICALLY different from the $300 I paid to have a similar prescription filled before I left for PNG. Also, I would have to find a US “benefactor” who would lend me the $20,000-$25,000 to pay for the medication out-of-pocket while I waited for reimbursement from the insurance company.

So much for that brilliant plan.

Meanwhile, the my insurance company and the specialty pharmacy that would fill the prescription were sending me emails saying things like, “Once the medication leaves our office, it is your responsibility if it is lost or ruined on the way. . . ” and “If it gets held up at customs, is confiscated, or becomes lost, you would be responsible.” My favorite one said, “If not refrigerated properly, the medication may not be useful and, again, this would fall on your shoulders.”

Good grief.

So, all of my fantastic schemes had worked out as follows:

• The medication couldn’t be shipped directly to Ukarumpa because of the terrible track record for delivery that FedEx has in PNG and the fact that the cold packs would be completely warm in the 10-14 days it would take for the package to arrive.
• The medication couldn’t be shipped to Port Moresby and brought up to Ukarumpa on one of our missionary flights because I couldn’t figure out what material (hazardous or innocuous) was used in the cold packs.
• I couldn’t afford the $3000 to fly back to the US to pick up the medication myself.
• I couldn’t afford to have the medication shipped to Australia for me to pick up because of the $2000-$2500 import tax.
• I couldn’t afford to have the clinic here in Ukarumpa fill the prescription in Australia because of the $2000 co-pay AND the fact that I would need to find a person to lend me $20,000.

At this point it was the beginning of June. I had been dealing with this stupid prescription refill for about two and a half months, and I was nearly in tears most days because I didn’t know what else to do. I needed the medication by September, and I was no closer to getting it than I had been when I started the process back at the end of March.

One morning I was at school reading YET ANOTHER email stating that one of my big plans wouldn’t work. I gave up. I decided that it wasn’t worth the hassle. I figured that I would just go without the medication for a year. Of course my US neurologist would have a genetically-modified COW if I went off my medication, but what else could I do?!? I even thought gleefully, “If I have to be med-evaced because I have an MS episode and go numb from the waist down, I’ll get to go to Australia, a land of drive-throughs, convenience stores, and shopping malls!!!”

In between classes that same morning, another English teacher at school saw that I was really struggling. She pulled me aside and told me to “spill it.” After listening quietly, she hugged me, and then she prayed for me.

After she walked away, I prayed. It’s not that I hadn’t been praying along the way. I had been praying, “Lord, please help my plans to work out to get this medication here.” But, this time I prayed, “Lord, I can’t do it. You have to work it out because I’m all out of plans.” Complete surrender can make a person feel entirely helpless and even weak. But I also felt free. I didn’t have to DO anything else because I’d already tried EVERYTHING I could think of to DO.

So I waited.

I graded projects. I wrote final exams. I created PowerPoint presentations for Awards Night at school. I emailed my two sisters, told them what was happening, and asked them to pray. I did everything except come up with another way to get my meds into PNG.

A week later my sister Laure responded with a possible idea. Two years ago, she and I had gone on a short missions trip to Haiti with a guy who “just happened” to know another guy who was coming to PNG on a short trip and who “just happened” to be a pharmacist. I emailed the “guy who just happened to be a pharmacist” (G) only to discover that he was actually the Director of Pharmacy Services at [redacted: a prominent] Hospital and would be working with Wycliffe for a few weeks on a construction project about 6 hours away from Ukarumpa. After hearing my request, G immediately agreed to hand-carry my medication into the country.

At first I was a bit nervous about asking G to carry a large quantity of medication prescribed to another person (me) through customs, but my other sister K agreed to make some calls for me. She started by contacting the embassies for Australia, New Zealand, and PNG to find out about customs and import tax requirements.

Here’s how things stand as of today:

At the end of last week, K found out that all G will need to get my medication through customs is a letter from my prescribing physician. Amazingly, I won’t have to pay a single dollar in import tax either!

This afternoon my refill was processed in record time by the specialty pharmacy in the US, so G will have the meds just before his flight to PNG on July 6th! I was also able to share how the Lord worked everything out with the pharmacy representative who I’ve been emailing for the few months.

The one-year prescription refill will only cost me a $300 co-pay, just like it did last August.

Another Wycliffe family will be driving the six hours from G’s work location in PNG to Ukarumpa at the end of July, and they “just happen” to be traveling with a cooler that can be used to keep the medication cold during the drive.

WOOHOO!! Praise the Lord for having His own plans! He works out everything for HIS glory!

I guess I ought to give up on my plans and big ideas a little sooner next time. It might save me from a few sleepless nights and weeks of stress-filled days!

This whole prescription refill mess is Isaiah 55:8-9 in a way that I’ve never experienced it before.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:8-9
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We’re in this boat again of not knowing how the Lord is going to work. But we’re trying to trust. Caryn’s account at Wycliffe Associates is in the red, and her monthly giving isn’t bringing her account into the black. She has no money for food or supplies for her final 6 months… Can you help? Do you know someone who can?

You can donate online here »

People have been asking me who I think Evie looks like. I think she’s starting to look a lot like I did as a baby. What do you think?

Me at 2 Weeks Old

Evie at 3 Weeks Old

Me with giant baby eyes

Evie with giant baby eyes

And, just for fun and nostalgia, and also to show you how cute my mom is…

My mom, Caryn, and Me (2 weeks old)

My mom and Evie (2 months old)

Well, we skipped right over March and most of April, but let’s blame that on two things: laziness and procrastination. Wait… Did I do that right? Maybe someone should explain this blame-shifting thing to me again.

It’s time to initiate Recording Editable Content Application Peripheral (ahem… that’s RECAP for the non-sluggites)…

March for Life (Jan 22)

Joel and I, with our friends Marissa and Jesse (and their tiny unborn baby), joined up with Cornerstone Ministries to go to the March for Life in Washington, DC. You can read more about that trip here… But here’s a quick video for you. Joel makes my attempt at an interview at the 2010 March for Life into a joke that quickly turns awkward… and then more awkward. Marissa saves the day, but then I ruin that because I can’t stop laughing at Joel.

Can you see why Joel and Jesse get along so well?

Kelley & Matt’s Baby Shower (Feb 13)

In the first of many trips to Lancaster for Lincoln’s sake (hooray!!!!), Joel and I hit up eastern PA for Valentine’s weekend for a baby shower for our very own tiny unborn nephew and his lovely parents, Kelley and Matt. My mom and Caryn put together an amazing party, with decorations, place settings, and food that matched the illustrations I did for the invitations (and later the baby announcement). There were tons of people, and it was a complete blast!

Album: lincolns-baby-shower

Done with Grad School (Mar 5)

Unless you were living under a rock or haven’t seen me in years, you know that I was in grad school… but now I’m not! I finished my classes in February, and graduation was in March. I didn’t make it to the ceremony in Orlando, but I had my own personal celebration that included suddenly realizing that I was way behind in training for the half marathon and forcing myself to start the treadmill up again. Woo! Still no diploma in the mail, but I emailed Full Sail on Friday to find out what the deal it. I want that freakishly expensive piece of paper to hang on my wall. And just so you don’t wonder… it’s a Master of Fine Arts in Media Design. Yahoo!

Groundbreaking at MCC (Mar 21)

After 2 years of fund raising, our church was able to move forward with expansion plans. Since Joel and I have been on the capital campaign committee since November 2007, the project feels like a huge part of our life in a way. To be there for the groundbreaking ceremony was a great experience, one that I know I won’t ever forget. It wasn’t a big deal to most people since it was just a ceremonial shovel in the side yard of the church… but it felt so satisfying to see how God is working in such a tangible way through the ministry of the church and its growth over the past 5 years.

HC Alumni Indoor Field Hockey Tournament (Mar 27)

“Go, old people!” was our motto. We came to win, and lose lose lose lose we did! All four games to be exact… but it was still amazingly fun to get back into playing hockey. I was definitely nervous beforehand, sluggish and frustrated during, and ridiculously sore afterwards, but now that I’ve recovered… I can say that I might consider doing it again, if just for the chance to catch my breath while catching up with old friends!

Lincoln’s Birth Day (Apr 2)

On Friday, April 2, at 4 am, I got a phone call to let me know that my nephew Lincoln Michael Waller had been born! Joel and I made the trip to Lancaster later in the day, and I got to stay for the whole week! And now I miss seeing him… Thank goodness for webcams and Skype!

Garden Spot Half Marathon (Apr 10)

Thanks to my sister Caryn and a New Year’s Resolution, I decided to train for a half marathon this spring. I did great with my training from December through the beginning of February, but with all the stuff that had to happen in order to finish my final thesis project for school, my training became sadly lacking in consistency during February. So, March became crunch time for training… but even after four weeks of hard work, I had still never run more than 9 miles all at once… which made the 13.1 required to complete the half marathon seem even more intimidating than that were before. Luckily, we survived! I came in at around 2 hours, 30 minutes, and 14 seconds, which put me in the slower half, but I decided that it wasn’t about the time I got. It was more about just doing it and finishing. I’ll save the next one for worrying about beating my time! At the end of the race, we even got cool medals and an astronaut blanket that made me feel like a shiny silver-coated winner!

Late last night, Laure, her sister Caryn, and our friend from church, Caroline, drove to Baltimore to begin their trek to Haiti. I’m thankful to report that they have arrived safely in the Dominican Republic, all bags accounted for (so if you donated something, God made sure it survived the deep underbelly of the airline industry, and will bless an orphan very soon)!

I’m not sure what information I’ll hear from Laure over the next few days, but I’ll be sure to update my Twitter feed with any additional news or updates (you can see my Twitter feed on the right hand side of the sight, or you can feel free to follow me here). Who knows, if we’re lucky, maybe Laure will even update her Twitter feed herself (the marvel of modern technology… how did we ever survive).

Please continue to pray for Laure, Caryn, and Caroline, as they’ll be arriving at the orphanage tomorrow. They’ll help out with some service task, but more importantly, spend some one-on-one time with the kids — showing them the love of Christ.

I’m sure Laure will post some photos once she is back, which reminds me. I never posted our India photos! Oh well, one more thing on my todo list! Ha!

Hello! By visiting this site today, you have automatically become part of the Joel & Laure Kline Official Fan Club! Congratulations!

So, two years have passed since our wedding day. At this time back then, I was probably still digesting free breakfast from Panera (thanks to a really nice cashier) and on my way to get my hair done with Caryn, Kelley, & Erinn. Such a fun day! I have no clue what Joel was doing. Probably still sleeping. Or maybe putting on his tux with the way too long sleeves (no thanks to crappy After Hours Tuxedo).

For a real blast from the past, check out our proposal reenactment video, now with 20% more stick puppets*. (*Actual amount of stick puppets may vary. Sorry, no CODs.)

What’s new these days with the Joel and Laure these days? you ask. Well, aren’t you nosy! It’s not like we have a Web site dedicated to ourselves where we post all kinds of random information and photographs about us. Do you think we are complete Narcissists?

Ahem. Oh, right.

So, what have we been up to? This year has been a busy one. I started grad school in March, and am now on the final week of my 4th class of 12. I’m still on schedule to graduate at the end of next March, with the actual graduation ceremony taking place in early May. For the uninformed, it’s a Media Design MFA from Full Sail University (online) in Florida.

Joel’s still a hard worker at the think tank. On Friday, he just got upgraded from cubicle-dweller to no-window office. I stopped in to check it out, and it seriously needs some interior designer action. He’s already made a list of things for the Queer Eye guys to help with, but if anyone has any suggestions for making his office more exciting, post your thoughts in the comments at the end of this post. I’m sure Joel will take your expertise into consideration.

We spent a week in Santa Monica at the beginning of May for business. Joel & I camped at Ohiopyle over Memorial Day and biked our bums off. Then we spent a few days at the beach in Ocean City, MD, with Kelley, Matt, Caryn, Heather, & Tim at the end of May. It was travel craziness!

Considering that we didn’t really go anywhere last summer, I can’t believe all that we’ve been able to do this year already. And there’s still more!

We’re going camping with our Bible study group, Project:Fracture, this coming weekend. Then the following weekend, we’ll be in Lancaster for the 4th of July. After that, we’ll head to Williamsburg with the Hanks family for some Vermont-style family time. Then, in August, we’ll be heading to somewhere in upstate NY with the Klines.

And then it’s fall again.

We’re working on plans to head to India again at Christmas, so I’ll keep you posted on that as it develops.

So, what’s with the photo at the top of the page? It’s Joel & I at the James Gallery (where we got hitched) last night! After a delicious Cheesecake Factory dinner, we wandered around the West End for a bit and peeked into the sculpture garden and took some aesthetically pleasing cell phone photos. And that’s one of them. Yay!